‘I’m Devastated Not To Be Playing…In Australia’: Andy Murray Reportedly Couldn’t Watch Australian Open Because It Was Such A Struggle To Not Play In It
Andy Murray is no stranger to the Australian Open. He made the tourney’s championship round five times in his career. But this year would be a little different as Murray didn’t play in the open due to some complicated circumstances.
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The ATP Tour on January 23 said: “Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray has confirmed that he won’t be competing in the 2021 Australian Open. Murray, now ranked No. 123 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, had been granted a wildcard to play in the tournament’s main draw but he tested positive for Covid-19 last week shortly before he was due to fly to Melbourne.”
Murray reportedly was reportedly in talks with Tennis Australia to find an agreeable “workable quarantine” for him per the ATP Tour.
According to the ATP Tour: “The…Scot was asymptomatic and still hoped to compete in the event, but was unable to agree upon a ‘workable quarantine’ after extensive talks with Tennis Australia. Murray had already been quarantining in the U.K. but would have faced an additional 14-day quarantine upon arrival in Melbourne.”
“Gutted to share that I won’t be flying out to Australia to compete at the Australian Open,” Murray said in a statement per the ATP Tour. “We’ve been in constant dialogue with Tennis Australia to try and find a solution which would allow some form of workable quarantine, but we couldn’t make it work. I want to thank everyone there for their efforts, I’m devastated not to be playing out in Australia. It’s a country and tournament that I love.”
Not only was Murray upset about not being able to play in a tourney he loves playing in, his snowman apparently was also pretty upset.
“Frozen out of the Aussie (Open)”
It was so hard for Murray, that he “watched very little of the Australian Open,’ Murray said via The Guardian. ‘I didn’t watch because I wanted to be there myself. It was a struggle. I stopped following all the tennis players I follow on social media because I just didn’t really want to see it. I saw little bits and pieces of highlights.'”
Murray also talked about his situation with COVID-19 testing per The Guardian.
“When I arrived in Italy I tested positive on arrival and then you’re in the hands of the government and it’s not under the ATP jurisdiction,” Murray said according to The Guardian. “I had to go through more testing and had to quarantine when I arrived to get tests, wait in my hotel and get a local nurse to come and test me. I then tested negative a couple of days later and I was allowed out.”
Murray would instead play in the Open Sud de France in Montpellier, France, a tourney that would start a day after the Australian Open’s conclusion.
Belarus’ Egor Gerasimov would win against Murray in the first round (7-6, 6-1).
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